


Reconnecting and Making Amends

by needforsuv



Series: Assorted Stevonnie Fluff [8]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Extended Families, Family, Family Fluff, Forgiveness, Gen, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Hugs, Meeting the Parents, Multi, Other, Reconciliation, Regretful Mom and Dad DeMayo, The Power of Love™, introductions, talking things out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:02:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26303131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/needforsuv/pseuds/needforsuv
Summary: After reflecting on everything, Greg decides to see his parents in person again to give them the chance thatRosehadn’t with her own.Together and with the support of Greg’s extended family and friends, the DeMayo family is coming back together, one branch at a time – starting with his own.Because love and everything good always prevails in the end, no matter how unlikely it had seemed.(Also, grandparent shenanigans and bonding!)
Relationships: Andy DeMayo & Greg Universe, Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Crystal Gems & Greg Universe, Doug Maheswaran & Priyanka Maheswaran & Stevonnie, Greg Universe & Other(s), Priyanka Maheswaran & Greg Universe, Stevonnie & Greg Universe, Stevonnie (Steven Universe) & Other(s)
Series: Assorted Stevonnie Fluff [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1402309
Kudos: 9





	Reconnecting and Making Amends

**Author's Note:**

> I know some might have different thoughts on the matter, but I choose to believe that no one is truly bad for bad’s sake; everyone has good in them and their hearts, it’s just a matter of reaching through!
> 
> (I mean, there’s 3 other Diamonds, but just 2 DeMayos…)

It wasn’t all that long ago for Greg that the thought of what he was about to do would’ve had him in a sour mood all day… But then and again, it was only a few years ago that the Diamonds had come to Earth to try to destroy it, only to finally realise the error of their ways and begin their long overdue journey of betterment and liberation…

All thanks to the child that he and Rose’s love helped create, a child who gave them the chance and opportunity to change that she herself never did/could.

Greg would be lying if he said that he didn’t see the similarities between their situations, and he definitely won’t be making the same mistakes as she had, of leaving things until they were too late (or really, just not ever even intending to do anything except running and hiding…).

So, after reflecting on everything and collecting his thoughts, Greg decides to see his parents in person again, together and with the support of his extended family and friends, because no matter what, he knows that they’ve got his back and he definitely wouldn’t be here without them.

Sure that the gems and the diamonds were out of view (just for now to make things easier), Greg smiled as he placed his finger on the doorbell and rung it. Even after all these years, the sound of that doorbell is as unmistakable as it was something that had brought both dread and relief to him as a child.

Thankfully, before Greg could ring a second time, his parents arrived to open the door for him.

“Heyyy… Mom and Dad,” He fiddled with his regrown hair using one hand and waved sheepishly with the other as recognition bloomed in his parents’ eyes, “It’s me, your son, Greg. It’s… been a while.”

“Gregory?” There was the faintest hint of a smile on their faces as Greg nodded, “Yeah it has… What’re you doing here?”

“Years – decades – ago when I run out on you to escape it all and live a life of being _free_ , I was, in some ways, a very different person compared to who I am today. Thanks to the love of my live of my love, her experiences, friends, and extended family, I’ve realised that everyone makes mistakes, mistakes that hurt those closest that they love, even when they’ve had the best intentions in mind – often not knowing better…” He paused to take a breath, and to check that his parents were still following, “Everyone deserves another chance to be better, because you could never know if you never tried – they never were given the chance to try… Mom, dad, I’m here today because I want to give you another chance, because I’ve since learned that it the right and better thing to do than leaving it until it’s too late… So, what do you say?”

“Go ahead son, we’re listening,” Mom and Dad DeMayo said in the warmest and softest tone of voice ever with a smile, “It’s the least that we could do after everything…”

He smiled back and began, “It was the last month of summer in ’85, I was in Beach City, on tour, when one night, this big 8 foot tall woman with massive flowing pink hair who was just the most beautiful and amazing goddess that I’d ever saw came to and clapped for my concert when no one else did. Like me, she had also run away from her family, taken on a new identity, and lived a rebellion of her own…”

Right on ‘cue’, Steven and everyone else popped out as Greg’s parents gave a slight gasp in surprise while they regarded their visitors.

“Fell in love with an alien rebel ‘princess’, aye?” They said with a smirk as they looked between the diamonds and Greg, “Sounds just like you son! What with your ‘space gimmick’ and all…”

“Heh, yeah…” Greg chuckles earnestly, “I didn’t realise it at first, but the more me and _Rose Quartz_ hung out, the more obvious it became – the alien and rebel part, not the ‘princess’ part, that I only found out recently… not that it mattered anyway to either of us, cause we just enjoyed being together…”

Mr and Mrs DeMayo sighed, “Seems like you’ve had a much more interesting life than most would’ve ever dream of…”

“That’s certainly one way to put it,” Andy commented as he put an arm around Greg’s shoulder, “It hasn’t even been 4 years since we reconnected, and man has it been a ride!”

“And then there’s us, living our boring lives, doing the same thing year after year… when we could’ve and should’ve done something sooner… We’re sorry for everything son. We should never have done the things that we did, made you feel the way that you did…”

“Hey… it’s okay, really. You were just doing what you thought was best… not that it excuses it, but for what it’s worth… I probably wouldn’t be here, with my amazing space family and friends being super happy without you and the _push_ that you gave me,” Greg said reassuring as he placed a hand on each of their shoulders, “Be happy that I’m happy alright? And I’ve got to admit, it’s taken me a bit too long to realise how this was just like how the diamonds were with _Rose_ – Pink Diamond – before she ran away… I’m sorry I didn’t reach out sooner, once things started to settle with Era 3 and all… But hey, I’m here now, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, you are…”

Although they didn’t quite know what he was referring to yet, they still smiled as they knew it’d all be explained in the coming moments, more or less…

“We all should’ve tried harder with everything,” Greg and his parents said simultaneously as murmurs of agreement ‘echoed’, “Not let our views and opinions hold us prisoner in a state of unchanging placidness or just letting things pass, and learn from each other all that is good, because love goes all ways; it’s a beautiful harmony that comes from everyone being the best and enjoying themselves, not just what a few may think is right for all…”

“That’s right.” | “Well said, you guys | Greg | Dad | Mr Universe!” | “Absolutely brilliant words…”

Everyone teared up as they were moved by their words.

“Aw, thanks,” Greg replied softly before turning to his parents, “So… about those letters that I sent you…”

“No real need for them now, we suppose… Yeah, we haven’t opened or read them, but we have heard bits and pieces about you on the news and stuff that did make it tempting, but… I mean, what would we even do if we opened them? Reply? It… how would we – and you – know for sure that we got the tone across…? And not…” A quiet laugh was shared between the parents and their previously estranged son, “That kinda stuff is always better in person when you can be there.”

“I know,” Greg smiled as he opened his arms wide and fell into the welcoming embrace of his parents, the diamonds sniffling at the scene, “It’s good to be here seeing you again, mom and dad.”

“Same, son, it’s nice seeing you again too, and happier than ever at that,” They said, turning to look at their visitors with a smile even as they and Greg remained in the hug, “Now, are we going to be introduced or are we gonna have to wait?”

“Well… unless you’ve got something you need to do in the house or something, _obviously_ you’re gonna be introduced!”

“Wonderful!” Mr and Mrs DeMayo beamed.

**###** **━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━** **###**

“Gosh you sure are tall,” The DeMayo parents commented jovially as the diamonds greeted them with hand-finger shakes, “How’d you even get here? And how did we not see you before you popped out?”

“We were squatting before – not a very comfortable pose I might add –, after we got here in that,” Yellow smiled softly, parent to parent, pointing to Steven’s – and Stevonnie’s – pink leg-ship with a giggle, “Quite the masterpiece, isn’t it? It used to belong to our precious ‘baby sister’ _Pink_ – Rose –, she was a bit of a goofball as you might’ve guessed.”

“And that was something you sometimes _punished_ her for, right?”

“Sadly, yes…” Blue continued, “When all she wanted was us to be happy together, as a family, and that gems – and herself – be allowed the freedom to decide things for themselves.”

“Mmm…”

“You see – that was her, as we knew her, by the way –,” White ‘narrated’ as she projected a colour hologram of Rose Diamond from her gem, “We’re a species of sentient gemstones with bodies made of projected hard-light. And the four of us – Pink, Yellow, Blue, and White – made up _The Great Diamond Authority_ , which together – or rather, the three of us –, ruled over a ‘civilisation’ that spanned galaxies. Divided in castes with diamonds at the top, there was no room for anything deemed as being against the order of things set out by us, even when it was one of us who was doing it…”

“That sounds absolutely horrible…” Parents DeMayo commented with shock.

“It was,” Greg confirmed, “So when Rose got her first colony – which gems take over and drain of resources to make more of their own and expand –, and subsequently fell in love with as she discovered the beauty of it – Earth – and the truth about the colonisation process… She, long story short, ran away from her home on Homeworld with the Diamonds to start a revolution under a new identity after failing to convince them otherwise as _herself_.”

“This was her,” White projected a hologram of Rose, “ _Rose Quartz_ … Leader of the rebellion who reluctantly had to have ‘played both sides…’…”

“You know, when I first met Greg as Mr Universe, minus the context, I thought Garnet here was her,” Andy chirped, lightening the mood, “But nope, cuz she ain’t exactly single if you know what I mean.”

“He certainly has a ‘type’, doesn’t he?”

“Watch,” Garnet mostly avoided the question with only a small nod to show for it as she held up her palms, “I’m what gems call a fusion – the forms and minds of multiple beings combined into an amazing experience that is simultaneously themself and also their components… Long story, not that important, except…” She unfused into Ruby and Sapphire, “One of the ‘rules’ was that fusion between different gem types is forbidden.”

“Ruby and Sapphire, nice to meet you,” The two smaller gems beamed as they greeted Greg’s parents with a hug before fusing back into Garnet to do the same, “Garnet, now if you don’t mind, I’ve got to tend to your garden just real quick…” She dashed and jumped over the fence into the back yard.

“And this is the part where the bad news comes, right?”

It was clear to both Mr and Mrs DeMayo that of everyone who was here today with their son Greg, Rose Quartz was definitely not one of them. Because if she were here, they were sure that Greg would’ve been holding her hand the very moment after he rang the doorbell. Whatever it was that had happened to her, they knew it had to be the thing that finally put into motion the cogs of change; they could feel it in not just the atmosphere, but also in the tone of everyone as they spoke, about her…

“Unfortunately, yes,” Greg sighed as he explained, “Eventually, Rose decided to have a baby with me, giving up her form – being – and ability to exist so that our child would inherit her gem (and powers)…”

“This is Steven,” He introduced as his son approached, “Our baby.”

“Oh,” Despite the obvious sadness at the news of Rose’s passing, Mr and Mrs DeMayo still smiled as they hugged and fawned over their grandson, for it also brought with it the blooming of something better, “You’re a cute one aren’t ya Steven, just like your mom – and dad, kinda.”

“Heh, thanks!” Steven blushed as Greg humphed.

“Hey, I was cute too!”

“Not as cute as him!” They squeezed and played with Steven’s cheeks while smothering him in kisses, as grandparents did, “You’re just so adorable!”

“You should’ve seen him as a baby then,” Pearl approached as she brought out her phone and with it, the baby photos, “I’m Pearl, Steven’s _favourite_ mom,”

Steven rolled his eyes as everyone giggled.

“And along with Garnet and Amethyst – who emerged after the war –,”

“Heyo!” The Quartz waved in greeting at the mention.

“…acted as Steven’s guardians since he moved in with us.”

“The Crystal Gems, right?” Parents DeMayo asked, “The center of many myths and legends throughout history…”

“Exactly!” Pearl beamed, teetering on the edge of going on a lecture…

“I’m Pink Pearl, just call me Volley,” She interrupted, stopping her counterpart, “I used to be Rose’s ‘servant’ – which is what pearls are _supposed_ to be –, or really, playmate/friend before I was taken away by White and ‘replaced’ by Pearl before Rose got the Earth, unaware until…”

The parents brought both Pearls into a hug, their blooming understanding of them all bringing forth more emotion that they’d felt in what felt like forever, “Must’ve been hard…”

“Yeah… it wasn’t easy, for any of us… but, standing here right now, we wouldn’t change it for anything.”

“We can tell,” They smiled, “This family really is something special indeed…”

“Yippie!” Spinel exclaimed, bouncing up to the DeMayo parents to hug and kiss them, “Hiya ‘new’ grandma and grandpa, oh I love you so much already!”

“Heh, we love you too!” They returned the affection while also ruffling her hair, before looking to Greg with an amuse-puzzled expression.

“Aww…” Spinel cooed, smitten.

“That’s Spinel; after receiving Earth as a colony, Rose tricked her into playing a ‘game’ of staying still… and just left her waiting alone in a garden for 6000 years,” He explained as he joined the hug, “And, well…”

“You adopted her, for lack of better words… Oh we’re so proud of you Greg!”

“Yeah, go dad!” The Rose Quartzes cheered, “Wait, does that mean…”

“You’re our grandparents!” ‘Superfan’ exclaimed as she hugged them, “Hi, I’m – a – Rose Quartz –just call me Berry –, one of the many that got bubbled – put in stasis – because of Steven’s mom, and since she did create us and Steven, we’re like siblings! Isn’t that right, RQ?”

“Mmm-hmm,” ‘Hippie’ nodded.

“…and we’ve definitely got so much to catch up on! Come here Nora, you’ve got to meet them!”

“Hey…” ‘Shy’ waved sheepishly as she left her ‘post’ of ‘babysitting’ Lion and stepped into view, the DeMayo parents enveloping her in a firm hug as soon as her appearance registered in their minds, “Oof.”

Nora smiled at the touch.

(It didn’t need to be said that she looked just like _her_ – but with pinker skin – for them to know how hard things would’ve – had – been for her.)

**###** **━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━** **###**

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr and Mrs DeMayo,” Jasper bowed as she greeted them, “I’m Jasper and I just want to say that you’re right to be so very proud of your son Greg. He was one of the few that had managed to bring joy to my late Rose Diamond’s life, as well as being the amazing father and mentor that he is in instilling all that is good in others… I’m truly humbled by your presence.” When Jasper was showing respect, and not goofing around or being chill, she was dead serious.

“Hey, easy now…” They patted her shoulders as she stood up.

“Thank you,” Jasper returned as she gave them a secure, yet gentle hug, “I’m just so happy that you and Greg have finally made up, because this is definitely good for not just him, but everyone too. Also, I can see where he gets his looks from…”

“So, Greg…” They ‘whispered’ off to the side in a slightly teasing tone, which caused both him and Jasper to blush…

“We’re just close friends!”

“Don’t worry, we totally won’t judge!”

Instead of replying to Amethyst and possibility making things _worse_ , Greg and Jasper just slowly backed away from the parents and each other…

“Don’t worry about them, Amethyst, Greg, and Jasper; they just like to ‘banter’,” Peridot ‘explained’ somewhat unnecessarily as she greeted them, “Hi, I’m Peridot – Facet-2F5L, Cut-5XG; Peri for short –, made long after the war on Earth ended and in the middle of a resource crisis, which meant that I’m _smaller_ than my Era 1 counterparts… Anyway, nice to meet you!”

“Aww, it’s nice to meet you too!” They greeted back, picking up the smaller gem for a hug and ruffling her hair, “You’re kinda cute, aren’t ya?”

“Gee, thanks!” Peridot grinned brightly as she was placed back onto the ground.

“And you must be Bismuth, right?” The Parents deduced as they greeted the Rainbow-haired gem, shaking her hand.

“Heh, yeah, that’s me alright; Rainbow hair, gem, and all!” She smiled and hugged them gently, “I used to make _all_ the material weapons for the rebellion with nothing but these hands!” Bismuth demonstrated by shapeshifting her hands after finishing the hug, “Pretty impressive, right?”

“Totally,” They smiled, “So… what’re ya guilty of, cause you certainly don’t seem like you’ve been around much…”

“Heh, yeah, ya got me,” Bismuth chuckled cheerily, adding sheepishly, “Oh, it’s nothing really… Just you know, creating a weapon that would _permanently_ destroy a gem’s being instead of just simply incapacitating them for a period of time – which would then make us just as bad as the ‘other side’ – and showing it to Rose while telling her to use it on _Pink Diamond_ … Which would’ve been real awkward if someone actually did use it for real…”

“Yeah, it would be, wouldn’t it?” Mr and Mrs DeMayo hummed with a slight chuckle, “And it’s great that you’re so honest about it, I think it really helps us understand everything just so, so much better!”

“You’re welcome!” Bismuth simply beamed, she stepping back to let the next person introduce themself.

“I could’ve drowned the both of you with the water from the pool next door the moment we got here, but I didn’t,” Lapis said with a smile as she greeted the two, “Hi, I’m Lapis – Lapis Lazuli – and yes, I can control water.” Steven and Connie stifled a chuckle under their breaths at what would other be a concerning statement if not for their friend’s light-hearted tone.

“Oh that’s just charming Lapis,” the parents smiled genuinely as they hugged her, the water gem returning the affection happily, “So what’s your story darling?”

“…is it okay if I call you grandma and grandpa?”

“Of course it is! You’re our beautiful grandchild just like Spinel, the Roses, and…” They definitely did have a lot to catch up on, and they weren’t about to _not_ be the bestest grandparents ever!

“Aww… thanks!” Lapis tightened her hug as she continued, “Well, grandma and grandpa… Back during the war, I was attacked and poofed – discorporated – and before I could reform, my gem was picked up and mistaken for a Crystal Gem. They imprisoned me in a mirror and interrogated me, and nothing I said would convince them of my innocence; when everyone fled, I was left behind… Stuck and unable to reform, until one day, thousands of years later – a few years ago –, Steven freed me from the mirror after spending the day with me, actually talking to me like no one else did…”

“Gosh, that’s…”

“Yeah, and that’s not even half of it…” Lapis beamed as she reached back to pull Steven and Connie into a hug, “But I’m a lot better now.”

“Mmm!” Steven and Connie hummed brightly as they returned Lapis’s hug.

“Well, you certainly seem close,” The grandparents commented with a smile and giggle.

“We are, ma’am, sir,” Connie replied politely as she shook their hands and introduced herself, “I’m Connie Maheswaran, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too Connie,” They hugged her lightly as she did the same, “So, how’d you meet?”

“He saved me from boulders falling down a cliff – which was caused by a corrupted gem – by wrapping the both of us in his protective bubble,” The girl was all goofy smiles as she recalled the encounter.

“Oh?”

“Heh, I was actually trying to impress her and stuff, return the glow-bracelet that she dropped a few months ago at a parade, you know…”

“Aww… that’s just sweet,” Parents DeMayo cooed as they ruffled Steven’s hair, “So…”

“Doctor Priyanka Maheswaran,”

“Doug,” Her parents said respectively as they introduced themselves, shaking hands, “We’re Connie’s parents. Me and Priyanka, we used to be real strict with her and well…”

“They’re right,” Greg joined in, putting a hand on Priyanka’s shoulder in support, “And…”

“We made her think she had to lie to us, just so she could keep hanging out with Steven; when she finally told us the truth and how she felt…”

“You just felt terrible,” Mr and Mrs DeMayo finished as they brought the Maheswaran parents in for a hug.

“Yes, we did… but afterwards, everything got so much better!” Priyanka and Doug beamed, bringing Steven and Connie into a tight hug, “And now, we’ve got a bigger and better family than we’ve ever had before.”

“You don’t talk much to yours, do you?”

“Not really… but we’re planning to after this.”

“Good, we’re looking forward to meeting them too…” They trailed off as they blinked and beamed; noticing how Steven and Connie were holding hands and real close to each other, “Wait…”

“Oh you know how it is! Ever since the day that they met…”

“They’re really big dorks,” Spinel stretched her head up and ‘whispered’, causing the Jam Buds to giggle.

The grandparents’ eyes glistened with delight as they looked at Connie in a way that grandparents did with a grand-child- _in-law_ to be – super adoringly –, before bringing her close and hugging her – the adorableness of her face and features not lost on them at all.

“Aww… she’s just as adorable as you Steven!” They cooed, smothering her in kisses while playing with her cheeks, “Just look at those cute round cheeks and that adorable nose… oh, you’re just wonderful!”

Connie blushed at the compliments as she enjoyed the attention, Steven unable to resist smiling along despite seemingly having been ‘replaced’ as the _favourite_.

“Gosh I just love it when everyone’s enjoying themselves,” Jasper commented as she and the others watched on, “It just makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside…”

“Heh yeah,” Amethyst bumped fists with her quartz sister and hugged her along with Greg and Andy, “It is nice.”

**###** **━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━** **###**

‘Eventually’, Lion decided to ‘wake up’ from his _nap_ – or rather, he decided that it was his _turn_ – and walked over to greet the grandparents in the most adorable, cat-like manner possible.

“Oh,” They cooed somewhat surprisedly as the pink feline lightly pressed into them and they gently stroked his fur and mane, “Hey there, you’re a soft fluffy one, aren’t ya?”

He responded by ‘purring’ softly, mouthing a few gentle ‘roawrs’ like a cat would with meows.

“That’s Lion,” Steven provided as the grandparents continued to dote over Lion, scratching behind his ears and his belly while he playfully swatted his limbs in the air and licked their hands and faces, “He used to be Rose’s; he’s pink because Rose revived him.”

“Well, it only adds to makes you the cutest, most adorable lion ever!” Mr and Mrs DeMayo bubbled as they hugged Lion, the feline not protesting one bit as he continued doing _cat stuff_.

“Roawww!”

*Snap*

“He’s certainly well behaved,” Pearl noted quietly as she giggled.

“Well, he _has_ gotta impress ‘em Pearlie, and he’s always well behaved.”

“Stop talking, just look at how cute he is!”

Peridot was right; Lion was being _absolutely_ adorable as he rolled about like a playful kitten, playing.

“Aww… he’s just so cute and adorable!”

Steven and Connie shared a knowing look with each other, smiling as they turned to their grandparents, “Well, if you think that’s adorable… there’s someone we’d love for you to meet, and they might just – definitely would – convince you otherwise and they can’t wait to meet you too!”

Confused though they were, their grandparents still smiled back as they watched the teens link hands, their bodies glowing brilliant and pink as they became one.

Stevonnie opened their eyes with a grin as they watched – and felt – Mr and Mrs DeMayo react with wide-eyed awe and wonder, before turning to acknowledge their friends and family.

“It’s ‘bout time ya made it sunshine!” Spinel beamed, giving their bestie a quick hug as Lapis, Jasper, and their human parents did the same – as well as giving their head a quick kiss.

Looking down briefly, Stevonnie noted that their dress and shirt with pants had combined into a lovely layered crop top with a belted skirt. _‘Huh… nice!’_ They thought to themself as they bounced over to their grandparents.

“Hey Grandma and Grandpa,” They beamed brightly as they greeted them with a hug, “I’m Stevonnie!”

“Oh my gosh…” The grandparents breathed with wonder as they returned the affection, “Stevonnie, YOU’RE JUST THE CUTEST!” Peppering their cheeks with kisses and then pinching them in classic grandparent fashion as everyone else laughed, “Oh, we just love you SO MUCH!”

“Aww… thanks!” Stevonnie blushed at the attention and compliment (but they did love it), “I love you guys too!” Returning with their own kisses…

Immediately, the effects were obvious; like with their parents, their healing kisses melted away the years as wrinkles, creases, and blemishes simply vanished in a flurry of glowing sparkles.

“Oh my gosh…” Stevonnie gasped in delight as they hugged and kissed them some more, “You guys look amazing!”

“Not as amazing as you,” They cooed, returning the love, “Oh, thank you so much Stevonnie; we’re gonna enjoy being your grandparents so much!”

“And I’m gonna love having you guys around too!” Happiness radiated from Stevonnie in the form of a pink aura that everyone felt as well as the wide grin that adorned their adorable face, “This is just the best! We can all send each other goofy holiday cards – even when we’ll be together for them, so I guess it’s give? –, knit cute sweaters together, share recipes of amazing food…” They paused, mid-way through listing out fun activities and things to do together, as they realised that they had accidentally picked up their grandparents in their hug, having spun them around a few times…

(They all giggled as Stevonnie gently set them down.)

“Oops… hehe, sorry; guess I got a little too excited there!”

“It’s alright darling,” They reassured with a smile as they shared yet another amazing hug, “To be honest, it was nice; we haven’t had this much fun or been this happy in, well… forever!”

“Mmm… same! I just feel so warm and fuzzy inside being here with you!” Stevonnie loved being with their family and friends, and today, here with their ‘new’ grandparents – and Greg’s refound parents –, the feeling couldn’t be more intense and fulfilling, “And you know what? I don’t think you’re gonna miss out on babying over your _favourite_ grandchild, because I’ve got a feeling baby Stevonnie hasn’t made their last appearance this century yet, especially after this…”

“Are you giving me _permission?_ ” Peridot asked enthusiastically.

“Well, I never did say no, but a heads-up would be nice,” Stevonnie beamed back.

“Duly noted!”

“In that case,” Stevonnie’s grandparents said as they hugged them close, “I guess we’ll have to keep a real close eye on you then, won’t we?”

“Mmm, ye-” Stevonnie’s reply was cut short as their grandparents, once again, began pinching and squeezing their cheeks…

“But first, we’ve gotta get another at those adorable features of yours, especially your cute, super pinch-able and kissable face and cheeks!” The grandparents cooed as they fussed over Stevonnie, “Not to mention beautiful too! And then there’s your smile, so uplifting and radiant…”

Stevonnie certainly didn’t mind the complements at all; in fact, they loved it! But as they continued admiring them, one thing was becoming increasingly clear to them – their grandparents weren’t about to let them go any time soon… (Which they didn’t actually mind either…)

“Um…” Stevonnie called out, ‘struggling’ in the grasp of Mr and Mrs DeMayo, “Guys… a little help?”

“Hmm… na,” Spinel replied, giggling along with Lapis and the Rose ‘Triplets’, “You look adorbs there Vonnie, I wouldn’t want to interrupt ya, bestie-sibling!”

“…but that would mean saying no to more hugs and love!”

“We know!” They replied, walking over not into the ‘hug-prison’, but joining Stevonnie and their grandparents as they posed in front of and behind them while Spinel wrapped her arms around them all in a massive hug.

“Smile for the camera honey,” Priyanka called out (Doug chuckled slightly), addressing Lapis, Stevonnie, and their siblings, “You’re all looking great!”

“Okay mom!” They beamed in reply, smiling as the woman took photos for their family album – which everyone else would also later join in on, but not before the grandparents were finished with enjoying their time with their grandchildren…

(And Stevonnie did eventually manage to fully rope Lapis and their other siblings into the ‘hug prison’… which they all really loved.)

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“You know, mom and dad,” Greg said as he hugged his parents – after the photo session –, “I’m really glad I came… even though I had some doubts on the way here.”

“Us too son, us too…” They replied softly, peppering kisses over his face, “It’s really sweet that you came, and with your amazing family… our amazing family… we love you!”

“Aww, ghee…” Greg giggled and fussed as he flushed red in embarrassment, even as he enjoyed it, “I love you too, but gosh… Isn’t this-”

“Hey, it’s only fair after embarrassing your kid _s_! Besides, we _have_ got a lot to catch up on, especially stuff like this…”

Stevonnie – as well as Lapis, Spinel, and the Rose Quartzes – snickered in response at the sight of their flustered dad, all a lot happier than before the visit,

“Yeah, totally daddio!”

“It’s okay to be embarrassed Greg, I get it,” Jasper called out in encouragement as she scooped Stevonnie, Lapis, and Spinel into a loving hug, Amethyst and the Roses joining in around them, “But you’re not gonna let that stop you from having the best time with your parents in forever, are you?”

“Mmm yeah… hugs…”

_‘Yeah, she’s right… I’m not!’_

Smiling, Greg kissed his parents back on the cheeks.

After making up for decades of lost time and chatting, loads more kisses and hugs for and from everyone, and many more stories and tales and such, it was time for everyone to leave and say goodbye as it was starting to get late. _“Dinner isn’t going to eat itself, you know…”_ Amethyst had said as everyone giggled…

“See you later, mom and dad, you’re welcome to visit us in Beach City anytime!” Greg bubbled energetically as he gave his parents a hug goodbye, “Heck, you could even move there if you’d like, you’d love the weather and pretty much everything else! I’m sure we’d find a great spot for you too…”

“Thanks,” They replied as tears drifted down their eyes, “We really appreciate it, and we’d love to – move we mean –, but… we’ve got a lotta work to do, _here_ ; you’re far from the only member of the DeMayo family we’ve managed to become distanced from… and we can’t let that ‘slide’ anymore. This Christmas, we’re all gonna be together, happier than we’ve ever been…”

“So…”

“Until then, we’ll keep in touch, and maybe even drop by for a quick visit.”

“Or we could come to you!” Stevonnie and a few others exclaimed with joy, “It’s gonna be great!”

“I like the sound of that,” Greg murmured, smiling.

“Same… see you later and take care!” Mr and Mrs DeMayo beamed, waving as their son and extended family prepared to leave.

“Will do, and you too!”

Even as everyone turned to leave, the smiles on their faces did not fade, for today, they had lifted a large weight off of their metaphorical shoulders, and gained the best family they could’ve ever hoped for – who were currently about to leave and have dinner in a few hours’ time…

“Wait!” Mr and Mrs DeMayo called out as an idea struck them, something that would put the cherry on top of this reunion.

“Yeah?”

“Let’s get dinner together, as a family – even if some don’t or mightn’t eat… –, because I think it’s time that we had a proper one – well, minus the home-cooking…”

“Aw, yeah!” | “Woohoo!” | “YEAH, DIN-DINS!” Delighted, everyone literally jumped into the air.

“We know just the place…” The Diamond announced with a smile, “You’re all gonna love it so much!”

“And we already booked it!”

“Ah, I can’t believe it,” Stevonnie, Lapis, and Spinel face-palmed in unison, “This is SUCH an AWESOME idea, how come we didn’t think of it?”

“Well, Garnet did,” the Rose Quartzes replied, hugging the trio, “And well, maybe you did, and you just forgot about it because you were having so much fun!”

“Yeah!”

“So, what’re we waiting for? Let’s go already!”

“Well, I hope you’re ready for a trip out of this world,” Stevonnie exclaimed, gesturing with their arms, “Because it _is_ a spaceship after all… and we’re gonna be taking a _little_ detour…”

“Where’d you have in mind?” Their grandparents asked softly, genuinely curious,

“Oh, nothing special _really_ , just all the planets in this solar system, including Pluto and a few of the interesting moons like Titan, Io, Europa, and Triton… the ‘gas’ giants where it rains diamonds, has _crazy_ winds, and stuff…”

“That sounds absolutely splendid darling,” Mr and Mrs DeMayo said as they hugged Stevonnie, kissing them on their cheeks, “Now, time to see what ‘all the fuss’ is about…”

“Hehe, yep!” Stevonnie giggled, giddily bouncing up to their ship ahead of everyone, eager to show this slice of the universe to their grandparents.

Of course, the celestial bodies in the solar system wouldn’t be the only ones that Mr and Mrs DeMayo would come to visit, but for today, they would certainly make for a nice opener for things and topic of conversation while they wait for their dinners to be served…

(None of them went outside, of course, since they didn’t have spacesuits or the time, but Jasper did briefly step outside on Neptune to snap a pic for the Rubies… which meant that they hadn’t in fact lied, Jasper was on Neptune, just not then…)

…the most fantastic of dinners that they would not ever forget, especially since Stevonnie invited them over for a home-cooked family dinner – in Beach City – on the next Sunday…

**Author's Note:**

> That Christmas, there was more joy and cheer than ever, as for the first time in a long time, Mr and Mrs DeMayo were celebrating with their family – Stevonnie, the Gems, and everyone else (including all the DeMayos) – together!


End file.
